[Salvage surgery for advanced laryngeal and hypopharyngeal carcinoma]

The aim of this study was to present results of treatment of advanced laryngeal and hypopharyngeal carcinoma in 334 patients, who were treated by primary radiotherapy and salvage surgery in Department of Otolaryngology of the Medical University of Warsaw between 1975 and 1990. Cancer of the larynx was diagnosed in 295 cases and cancer of hypopharynx in 39 cases. Depending on the extend of the tumor different types of surgery were performed. Some of the patients included in the study were treated by jejunal interposition procedures and pectoralis major myocutaneous flap to reconstruct pharyngoesophageal defects. Presence of nodular metastases and the necessity of an extend surgery were the cause of the increase of recovery. The 3-years survival after treatment without recurrence of the disease was:--among patients with laryngeal cancer: 56% (167 patients)--among patients with hypopharyngeal cancer: 38% (15 patients).